Crazy Expensive Medications

I was reading on Preemie News earlier and here is an article about the pharmaceutical companies price gouging. It is so expensive to have a preemie baby anyway and hearing things like this just make me sick. This is a medication that Ryan took 3 times! Thank goodness for insurance.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/36246199.html

Sick Babies and Television

I just want to say that when you have a two year old and a one year old baby that are both sick, the television is the best invention ever! Ryan's favorite is the Little Einsteins which he can tell you what episode he wants to watch. Today I was thanking everything that is holy for tv!

Summer Tomato Stack

Here is today's recipe from my book and it also fits in to the category "Food I Can Eat on My Diet" I ruined the Balsamic Reduction and didn't want to make it again so I ended up just drizzling a little bit of the balsamic vinegar over the top!

2 oz mozzarella cheese
1 ripe tomato
Salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp olive oil
4 large fresh basil

slice the mozzarella and the tomatoes, layering tomato, basil then mozzerella
Each tomato slice should be drizzled with a small amount of olive oil and salt and pepper.

Balsamic Reduction

1/2 C of balsamic vinegar
pinch of salt and pepper

heat in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook about 7 minutes until the vinegar coats the pan but still flows freely. Transfer immediately to a bowl.

I found my favorite cookbook!

While we were in the garage yesterday unpacking, I found my favorite cookbook that was given to us by our friend Marcus's mom and dad for our wedding. It is called Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook and it is WONDERFUL! It has all sorts of different sections from Stocking your pantry to Inspirational menus for Holidays and special occasions.

One of our favorite things are the cocktail recipes. Our absolute favorite:

Sauza Margaritas

4oz Sauza Tequilla
4oz Triple Sec
1/4c Fresh lime Juice
6oz thawed limeade concentrate
1/2 c water

It makes 4 margaritas or hold the water and blend with ice. MMM yummy!

Today is the Day!

Today is the day that we close on our house!! I am so excited. I woke up at five. In the morning. How crazy is that? So I have gotten some blogging done and some emailing! Yea closing on the house today!!

Happy Birthday Samantha!

I can't believe that my baby girl just turned one! She is just starting to take steps on her own and her personality is really starting to show! She is very much like her momma in that she is stubborn. She has been crying for awhile when she wants picked up but now she stands up and holds onto your pant leg and bounces up and down while "talking" very loudly! It really is cute. Of course temper tantrums are only cute for so long! She has grown and changed so much it is hard to believe that she is the same girl! She loves her brother so much and wants to do the grown up things that he does. I am sure it's frustrating to see him running and climbing and not be able to do those things. Soon enough though baby girl. We are so very happy and amazed everyday to have a daughter like Samantha.

Birthday Party!

The birthday party was really fun, here are a few pictures:



Ryan really got into presents this year


I went the time saving way way and made one cake, every one likes clowns right?

Happy Second Birthday Ryan!

Another year has passed, Ryan turned TWO today. When I think back on our time in the NICU I am so amazed and thankful at where he is now. At my 28 week appointment, Justin and I were told that we had to go directly to labor and delivery at the hospital. At the hospital they started me on steroid shots and told me that they hoped I could make it for another 48 hours of pregnancy. I was so terrified for my little baby. I knew that babies lived at this gestation but when they talked to us about the possibilities for the baby's (Ryan was unnamed and of unknown gender at this point) future, the statistics were not all that promising. I realize now that they were preparing us for the worst, and could not tell us for sure that our baby would live let alone what his future would hold. Working with the special needs adults that I worked with, I expected the worst and was heart broken. I searched the internet looking for stories, experiences of people in my same situation. Trying to find 28 week preemies who turned into normal, successful adults.
Everyday he amazes me, everyday he learns and grows. We are so proud and honored to be the parents of our amazing little boy.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch on Tuesday, Justin had the whole day off so we went up to Rock Creek Farms and picked out pumpkins, saw animals, and went through the mazes.
Ryan picked up every pumpkin before he finally found "the one" he seemed to prefer the green ones! He liked the animals, they had pigs, a cow, a donkey, miniature horses, and goats. He liked the sheep the best and Samantha liked the pigs.

Water World

So this summer for closing weekend, my mom, my aunt Kelly, cousin Rio and the babies and I went to Water World. For those of you who haven't been Water World is one of the biggest water parks in the Americas and was #7 on the Travel Channel's top water parks. We had a great time playing in the water and the sun!

This is my aunt, Kelly

Rio

We are under contract!

Yay! So our offer was accepted and we are under contract. We have to have the inspector out to inspect on Friday then we will close at the end of the month. I am picking out furniture, as our huge dining room table won't fit and we also need a new washer and dryer.

This is the washer and dryer that I like (but probably won't be getting):











Denver Water offers a 150 dollar rebate for buying an energy star washer which is awesome.

The table that we picked out looks something like this:


















We have never had dark wood but our cabinets are dark so as we buy pieces for the living room/dining room/kitchen we want them to be somewhat matching.

We are so excited!

House Hunting!

So, we went house looking again today! We looked at 8 houses plus the house that we thought we liked. We asked my dad, who is really good at bidding construction jobs, adding up costs, etc., to come look at the house that we liked. So this house that we did like, when we were looking at it all he said was, "There is a lot of work here, a lot of money." So obviously that didn't go as well as we thought! For example, we knew that the back deck needed work but my dad was worried about walking on it and suggested that we use it to fuel our fireplace this winter! Doh! So this is the first house, isn't it cute?

Then, we went and looked at this house. (Yes, that is a aquamarine fence) This one is on a huge lot, has a cute garage, seems nicely cared for, and has a beautiful front door! Then we went inside. The smell and the dirtiness was over whelming. First of all, the people who live there were in the house. Sitting there. Staring at us. There was food sitting out. Then we went downstairs and there was another dirty kitchen and beds everywhere. There were pay laundry facilities in the basement. So Justin and I think that the people who were living there were renting out the basement to a bunch of people. It was super yucky! So here we are me envisioning scrubbing walls for the rest of my life and coats and coats of paint.



So we looked at this one, think swiss chalet:



So after houses with holes in the walls, broken glass, razor blades in the back yard, exposed wires, and scary basements we were feeling somewhat um, disheartened. Low on energy, then we get to the last two and the second to the last one we TOTALLY FELL IN LOVE WITH! We are love this house and we are putting in an offer. Hopefully if all goes well, we will have a new house soon. So it has all been redone, new windows, new siding, new roof, new landscaping, new carpet, new everything. We just love it! It is tiny, about 200 - 300 square feet less than the rest we were looking at, but so cute!! Wish us luck, here are the pics:

Ooops!

How does a month go by so quickly? It has been almost exactly a month since my last blog, which is also my first blog. And yes it was also the post where I said I was going to blog. Darn. So I haven't even told anyone that I am blogging yet so I guess that's my next step! So to all of those of you who get an email shortly saying I am blogging, you are among the first to know!

Blogging

So now that I am at home I have been wanting to do a blog. At first it was a web page which was going to be a joint venture between Justin and I. That took too much work, everything had to be done and there were so many choices to be made! With this it is great, you just pick your layout and away you go.

Two days ago I bought a new computer with my financial aid money and so I made a deal with myself. I get a very nice new computer and we will do a blog to keep our friends and family up to date. Also, I realized that it will be neat to write milestones, pics, and videos for the babies to see as they get older.

Here we go, wish us luck!